You can’t please everybody.
At last night’s ACM Awards, Eric Church teamed up with Ashley McBryde to perform “The Snake,” the first televised performance of the leadoff track from Eric’s latest album, Desperate Man. As Eric explained it, the song is about politicians who care more about riling up their base to stay in office than they do helping the people they represent. The message of the song is pretty obvious, and honestly, it’s not even that controversial of a message.
But it’s 2019, so of course there was controversy.
Scroll through Twitter and you’ll see that most loved the performance. People appreciate seeing two powerhouse artists like Eric Church and Ashley McBryde team up to do something unlike anything else in country music right now.
But there were also a few who took exception to a certain line in the song: “I’ll bet you my rattle against your copper that the bitch takes the apple again.”
https://twitter.com/Sheilalynn55/status/1115071536107540481
Apparently, some people found this line “disrespectful,” some found it “offensive,” and some even claimed it was “sexist” and “misogynistic,” clutching their pearls at the fact that this song came after Little Big Town’s performance of their empowering new song, “Daughters.”
Just to be clear, people are offended by a song that features two evil snakes talking to each other about original sin, because one of the snakes refers to Eve as a “bitch.” It reinforced the message that these two snakes are clearly wicked in their schemes.
Let’s not forget that Eric Church also sang this song alongside Ashley McBryde, using his time on stage to share the spotlight with one of the most deserving, badass women in country music. At the end of the day, “The Snake” is a unique song, one with a different message than anything else in today’s country music. It was performed by two of the greatest artists we have right now, including one that is a woman. Can’t we just enjoy that without being offended?
Obviously the answer is no, because it’s 2019 and some people are always going to be offended. But I’m guessing Eric Church doesn’t care, because he’s never been one to play by the rules. And judging by the reaction to last night’s performance, most of his fans appreciate him for exactly that reason.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go watch that performance again.
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(Photo by Jeff Kravitz/ACMA2019/FilmMagic for ACM )
